Ludmila Ulitskaya is one of Russia’s most popular and celebrated writers. Her first novella, Sonechka, was published in the literary journal Novyi mir in 1992 and nominated for the 1993 Russian Booker Prize.

Described as “the Tarantino of Russian literature,” Sorokin’s books were banned during the Soviet era. One of Russia’s best-known contemporary writers, Sorokin received the People’s Booker Prize in 2001 for Sbornik Rasskazov (Collected Stories).

Starobinets’s short stories and novels defy the traditional horror genre by crossing over into fantasy, mysticism, and futuristic dystopia. Her short story collection, An Awkward Age, was a finalist for the Russian National Bestseller Prize in 2006.

The Film

A co-production of Intelligent Television and Wilton Films, RUSSIA’S OPEN BOOK premiered nationally on PBS member stations in December on WNET-THIRTEEN in New York. The Intelligent Channel, YouTube’s new online platform for enlightening nonfiction programming, previewed the PBS premiere with a digital showcase on Friday, December 13. Read more about the film.

The Host

Hosted by actor, author, and activist Stephen Fry (Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Jeeves and Wooster, The Hobbit), RUSSIA’S OPEN BOOK celebrates contemporary Russian authors who are carrying on one of the world’s great literary traditions - on their own terms. Excerpts from the authors’ works are brought to life by vivid animated sequences created exclusively for the film and voiced-over with dramatic readings in English by Fry.

The Producers

Intelligent Television, based in New York, produces innovative films, television, and online video in close association with leading cultural and educational institutions and renowned directors and cinematographers worldwide. INT also produces the Intelligent Channel with Google’s investment and support on YouTube.

Wilton Films, established in 1997, makes compelling, award-winning factual programs that matter. We have produced historical documentaries on such diverse subjects as the story of political spin doctors to how the International Space Station was created. Our arts programs include a history of pop culture in the developing world, the story of the Orient Express and the Belle Époque. We have reported from hotspots from Chechnya to Lebanon. We have tackled issues including stress in combat veterans and flaws in intelligence gathering. We have worked for corporate clients including George Soros’s Open Society Institute, Al Gore’s Live Earth, The Elders (senior statesmen convened by Nelson Mandela), and the Global Economic Forum (Davos). In 2009 we established a strategic relationship with Brook/Lapping and the Ten Alps Group.